Pegasus – Horse-Led Learning
The Pegasus Programmes combine our passion for helping you to fly high and achieve your potential, with the incredible learning and insight that comes through working with horses. No horse experience is needed as all work is done on the ground so no riding is involved. Instead you interact with these beautiful animals, developing insights about yourself and the way to achieve your goals. Read on for more on what we offer in these programmes, and the reasons ‘why’ this work has a profound impact.
Different types of programmes available
Team building/away days: working as a team we design a range of bespoke activities to help you to work together more effectively, understand each other and have fun! Come and experience a more innovative kind of team day, away from the office and capture the benefits of being outdoors. This can be run as a half or full day. See here for further information.
Women’s Transformational Coaching Programme with horses: this can be booked as an individual or as a group from the same organisation. This 6-week programme combines coaching and working with the horses, to give you time and space to focus on you, your goals and what you need to do to achieve them. Combining working with horses with coaching and accountability, you will focus on your goals and yourself at a deeper level, driving more meaningful and long-lasting change. See here for more details and programme dates.
Individual coaching and development: alongside a qualified coach and EFL practitioner, working with a horse to gain a deeper self-awareness and insight. This activity is excellent for personal development as well as professional development, for example for small business owners.
Retreats: we have run horse led sessions as part of a retreat, for groups focusing on awareness, wellbeing and personal growth. The picture to the right is a session we ran at a retreat in Ibiza. We can run a bespoke session to fit with your retreat theme and work with you to source a suitable group of horses to work with at your desired location, in the UK or Europe.
Community groups: we can run 2-hour, half day or full day workshops with community groups who may wish to increase their confidence or self-esteem. These could include people seeking work; individuals who have suffered domestic abuse; people suffering from stress. The sessions are not intended to be therapy but can complement any therapeutic sessions that individuals may be undertaking, or as a stand alone activity.
So what exactly is Horse-Led Learning? Why work in this way?
The official term for Horse-Led Learning is ‘Equine Facilitated Learning’, or EFL. EFL involves working alongside horses, as an individual or as part of a group, to learn more about yourself and develop yourself on both a personal and professional level. Horses are amazing animals who live in the moment and give us instant feedback on our behaviour, allowing us to observe the impact of our actions and explore different ways of approaching situations. No experience or knowledge of horses is necessary as all work is done on the ground, no riding is involved. EFL facilitators work alongside the horses to help the client reflect on the learning that is taking place, and how this can be transferred back into the workplace or individual situation. The language within EFL is focused around ‘working with’ rather than ‘using’ horses, the horses are seen as partners in this work, they are the instrumental part of helping people get to a deeper level of understanding about themselves and others.
EFL is not therapy, though often mistaken for Equine Therapy which many people have a greater awareness about – instead of a therapeutic focus there is a focus more aligned with coaching, helping individuals explore how to address goals, or challenges, and the horses give a depth of understanding in these areas.
How does it differ for more traditional forms of learning?
EFL is classed as experiential learning, as you experience it and feel the learning in the moment, and is very different to more classroom-based training (though they can complement each other). For example, you can learn in a classroom about different ways to be a leader, and you will get some insight into your preference, but with the horses you get immediate feedback on the way you lead, and how successful (or not!) it is. This means you can try different approaches in the moment and reflect on these, which are then useful to take back to the workplace. Attendees often feel a greater depth of learning as well as longevity when an activity is experiential, as it resonates with them because what they are doing is real.
The environment itself is also a huge benefit within EFL, working outdoors has been proven to have a positive impact on wellbeing, coupled with the cortisol-lowering effect of connecting with horses through a simple activity such as grooming. Therefore the reduction of stress, whether a primary or secondary focus of the session, is hugely important within EFL.
As part of our pledge to our local community, for every EFL session booked by a business we promise to reinvest part of the income into running EFL sessions for our partner charity Eve, a Domestic Abuse charity based in Northampton.
Costs are based on each individual/group’s requirements and a personalised quotation can be given.
To find out more information, or book a no-obligation conversation, please message Claire at claire@soar-development.co.uk.